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The Negro in the South
Signposts of Gains in Last Decade Leave a Reporter Reassured and Hopeful
By William Kroner
William Brower, Negro reportr., in Louisville, construction(wit-Tan estimated' 1.500,000 enroUed
the Negro vote is coveted. Yet
South Carolina for every Negro who votes in the
excluded lrom manxtypes
. "White applicants 011^13
'a wmmon request by employers Rh
|publlc and private employment
agencies. Major gains have been ln
municipal Jobs such as policemen
and firemen.
The Negro political status has
changed amazingly In the South.
for "The Toledo Blade." recently
traveled for three months through
twenty-seven states to assess the
status of the nation's 15,000,000 Ne
groes. The Herald Tribune presents
in two parts an abridgment ot his
findings. The first article is on the
Negro in the South, the second on
the North,
I
IN THE small Federal courtroom in
Charleston, S. C, late last spring.
I watched hundreds of spectators,
mostly Negroes, push and shove for
every inch of available space. They
literally fought their way to witness
the opening skirmish in an assault
on segregation in public schools in
the South. The tumultuous scene led
one visitor to remark:
"Time is running out on South
Carolina. Negroes are no longer
scared of white folks."
In the crowded Charleston courtroom history was being made. At
stake was the fate of the traditional
pattern of separate schools for
Negro and white pupils in all Southern and many border states.
,,/frhe case, now before the United
/States Supreme Court, was heard hy
'/\ a panel of three Judges. They rjlird,
2 to 1, in upholding segregation- bir,
ln line with thc separate bi^equal
doctrine, held that school facilities
in Clarendon County must be equalized for both races.
In an electric atmosphere I sat
for two days as the issues in the
Clarendon test case were unfolded.
As I look back on that tense setting,
I agree with the other visitor—the
squirming, hat-in-hand Negro is
fading fast from the South.
Those parents defied intimidation,
risked Joss of Jobs, Ignored the scorn
of their white neighbors to bring I
their school suit. I saw another example that convinced me that Negroes at thc lowest economic level:
are demanding change. Just before!
the Clarendon case, 465 pupils walked
out of the Negro high school in
Farmville, Va., In protest against inferior facilities. Backed by their
parents, they stayed out two weeks.
They returned only after lt was assured that their case against the
Prince Edward County School Board
would be taken to Federal court.
"POR an expatriate Southerner
who ls a Negro, the renewal of
his acquaintance with Jim Crow ln
his native habitat is a mixed experience. On my transcontinental
swing I was in and out of the South
three times. I found that I had
barely enough stamina to stand two
weeks of Jim Crow at a time.
I could see evidence of changes
that had taken place In the last
teit years, but I came across ftoo
y reminders of the past vto
man' my stay pleasant. Segregation
!ls trie way of life ln the South,*!
I was told many times. Euphemlst£
tural patterns. To mUliofr»««ci^Ne
groes, it still is a veneer of wrTRe
supremacy, a badge of inferiority, a
loathsome aspect of American life.
There was a certain rule-of-thumb
about Jim Crow that I followed in
virtually every Southern city. I did
j not stay in a white hotel or eat in
' a white restaurant. I found my way
to thc rear seats in public transit
vehicles. To avoid too much Jim
Crow in transportation, I used air
j travel. I used rest room facilities
!ln public places whose entrances
were marked, "Colored." I did not
go to the main public library-
But one of the most Irritable features of Jim Crow ls that the Negro
traveler runs across any number of
inconsistencies. There were many
cities ln the South ln which I had
no trouble getting limousine service
at airports. In most cities in North
Carolina and Virginia and in Little
Rock and Nashville, I had no trouble
hiring a taxi.
I walked into the public library
in Amarillo, Tex., and not an eyebrow was raised. I sat up front in
folic transit vehicles ln Loulnrille
In Norfolk, Va., I ate in thO air-
restaurant and used the feame
rooms as other passenger/ On
other hand, there are many department stores in Louisville, Balti
more and Dallas that refuse to
serve Negro women.
On an Atlantic Coast streamliner
from Philadelphia to Charleston, I
ate in the dining car; I did not have
to wait until thc corner table was
cleared nor sit behind a drawn curtain.
THE sinews of segregation in the
South are steadily being weakened. The Supreme Court has
knocked a hole in almost every form
of interstate travel. Many Negroes
agree with Lillian Smith, the author,
that legal segregation is on its way
out. Many with whom I talked feel
that when it cracks, it will crack
wide open—fast and furiously.
Some segregation in public education exists in Northern and Western
states. But with few exceptions, educational opportunities for all children ln these states are substantially
equal. On the other hand, in the
South, most states spend far less for
Negro pupils and on Negro schools
than they do for the whites. The
foaming controversy over segregated
schools ln the South has had some
Important effects. Even within the
"separate but equal" scheme Negroes
are beginning to get vastly improved
school facilities. But in the main
Negro schools are woefully inferior
to white schools.
On the opening day of the Clarendon school suit hearing, a Charleston newspaper published a picture
of a new Negro elementary school
Forsyth County, N. C. I Vaw a
consolidated high scV.ool
was under way for a
high school; the
Legislature voted $75 million to South, two suffer from political in-
"cquallze Negro and white schools." timidatlon or arc deprived of thc
But there is reason to doubt that theballo:. Many shrewd politicians still
Southern states have the resourcespiay upon race hate to get elected,
to equalize—the National Assoc'a-Many cities, South as well as North,
tion for the Advancement of Colored have Negro councilmen: four years
People contends equalization, if at ago, for the first time, in Winston-
all possible, would take years. Salem. N. C; three years ago in
O. . Richmond; last spring, in Faycttc-
NE of the most important changes ville N c Greensboro, N. C, and
that has taken place in thc South Nasnvjj-C
[since thc end of World War II has
been the opening of doors to Negro TP HE Southern Negro is not alone
students in hitherto aU-white col- x in his battle for his Constitutional
leges and universities. In at leastrights. He is being aided by an ln-
eleven Southern and border statescreasing number of Southern
Negroes have surmounted the bar-whites.
rlers of segregation and discrlmina
tion in professional and graduate
schools.
Excepting, perhaps, Lillian Smith,
doubt that I could have found two
persons among the white women of
What has happened at the Unl-the South who are more conslstent-
verslty of Oklahoma is one of thely devoted to Negro rights than Mrs.
best exhibits of how brittle segrega- Elizabeth Waring, wife of Federal
tion really is, once lt is cracked. In Judge J. Watles Waring, and Mrs.
three short years Negro enrollnS-mtM. L. Tilley. member of President
has Jumped from a retired teacheVrruman's Committee on Civil
separated from his classmates by aslghts. For two with such a com.
railing, to more than 250 students, mon interest, I found their person-
Discrimination began to crumble onallties strikingly different. ^Mrs.
Oct. 13, 1948, when the board of Waring is an advocate of the -flock
regents voted to admit George W. treatment in race relations; mi'd-
McLaurln, the teacher, to the grad- mannered Mrs. Tilley, daughter '•if
uate school. But lt was marred by a minister, has a calm approacal
a decree of strict segregation—then end is a staunch believer in the
came the crushing blow in June.chrlstian influence.
1950. when the Supreme Court I Allies like the Waring* and the
knocked the legal props from underfrilleys are increasing all over the
segregation.
ountry. They are an effective a
I walked about the university'stompanlmcnt to laws banning dis-
campus during the summer sessions, trlmlnation and to court decision!
I had breakfast in the cafeteria, [upholding such laws and broadening
Negro students, I observed, satjthe horizon of equality. Years ago
where they pleased, intermingling jthe N. A. A. C. P. and Urban League
with white students. There was not were virtually alone ln
the faintest sign of friction.
bnany Negro problems. Now there
M, lare state and local commissions or
ANY Negroes live quite well in
the South Doctors, lawyers. busi-stnlments therc Me hundreds of
nessmcndentists.somefarmers.pro- e organl2atl0ns conccrncd
me Problems. And newt,
out the country I noted a general
rise in the Negro economy. Negroes /"INLY the blind would fail to see
have a consumer purchasing power)'-' the signposts of gains along the
of close to $7 billion annually. Negro road of advancement in the
Much of the Negro wealth is con- last decade—in housing. Jobs, poll-
centrated ln the South. A high per- tics, civil rights and education,
ocntage of the 900,000 to 1,000,000 Many Negroes have begun to sense
Negro-owned homes arc ln Southern that integration is a two-way street,
cities and rural areas. More than with opportunities come responsl-
75 per cent of thc 200 Negro lnsur- bilitles. Given the tools of first-
apec companies, burial association* class citizenship, they must strive
for'Negroes, ultramodern ln
and Mratfrriar "benefit societl-
larges\single Negro business—"aire
found the South. One of the
most important segments of Negro
wealth is churches; Negroes are
prolific owners of automobiles: there
are fourteen Negro banks: there ia
a Negro-owned radio station in Atlanta which employs both races.
oes are owners or part owners of 186,000 farms averaging seventy-eight acres. In Desha County,
Ark., I visited the seventy-flve-acre
of John McDanlcls. On
odern property, which lncl
he earned $5,500. in
but several years ago
less than one-fifth of that
to use them wisely. I camo back
reassured and hopeful. Yet I know
that there remain enough problems
to occupy our American talents and
efforts for many years.
As an observer of Southern race
relations put it in Richmond:
"The problem of the South ls to
strike a pace that a region clumsily
ridden with hate, and over which
the past hovers ghost-like, can
stand. The pace may be too slow
or Negroes, too fast for whites, bit
that ls the only way ln which lt ci n
be done democratically."
But one N. A. A. C. P. man In
Richmond insisted: "Equality ls
ours. Wc want it now."

User has an obligation to determine copyright or other use restrictions prior to publication or distribution. Please contact the archives at reference@ajhsboston.org or 617-226-1245 for more information.

User has an obligation to determine copyright or other use restrictions prior to publication or distribution. Please contact the archives at reference@ajhsboston.org or 617-226-1245 for more information.

Transcript

The Negro in the South
Signposts of Gains in Last Decade Leave a Reporter Reassured and Hopeful
By William Kroner
William Brower, Negro reportr., in Louisville, construction(wit-Tan estimated' 1.500,000 enroUed
the Negro vote is coveted. Yet
South Carolina for every Negro who votes in the
excluded lrom manxtypes
. "White applicants 011^13
'a wmmon request by employers Rh
|publlc and private employment
agencies. Major gains have been ln
municipal Jobs such as policemen
and firemen.
The Negro political status has
changed amazingly In the South.
for "The Toledo Blade." recently
traveled for three months through
twenty-seven states to assess the
status of the nation's 15,000,000 Ne
groes. The Herald Tribune presents
in two parts an abridgment ot his
findings. The first article is on the
Negro in the South, the second on
the North,
I
IN THE small Federal courtroom in
Charleston, S. C, late last spring.
I watched hundreds of spectators,
mostly Negroes, push and shove for
every inch of available space. They
literally fought their way to witness
the opening skirmish in an assault
on segregation in public schools in
the South. The tumultuous scene led
one visitor to remark:
"Time is running out on South
Carolina. Negroes are no longer
scared of white folks."
In the crowded Charleston courtroom history was being made. At
stake was the fate of the traditional
pattern of separate schools for
Negro and white pupils in all Southern and many border states.
,,/frhe case, now before the United
/States Supreme Court, was heard hy
'/\ a panel of three Judges. They rjlird,
2 to 1, in upholding segregation- bir,
ln line with thc separate bi^equal
doctrine, held that school facilities
in Clarendon County must be equalized for both races.
In an electric atmosphere I sat
for two days as the issues in the
Clarendon test case were unfolded.
As I look back on that tense setting,
I agree with the other visitor—the
squirming, hat-in-hand Negro is
fading fast from the South.
Those parents defied intimidation,
risked Joss of Jobs, Ignored the scorn
of their white neighbors to bring I
their school suit. I saw another example that convinced me that Negroes at thc lowest economic level:
are demanding change. Just before!
the Clarendon case, 465 pupils walked
out of the Negro high school in
Farmville, Va., In protest against inferior facilities. Backed by their
parents, they stayed out two weeks.
They returned only after lt was assured that their case against the
Prince Edward County School Board
would be taken to Federal court.
"POR an expatriate Southerner
who ls a Negro, the renewal of
his acquaintance with Jim Crow ln
his native habitat is a mixed experience. On my transcontinental
swing I was in and out of the South
three times. I found that I had
barely enough stamina to stand two
weeks of Jim Crow at a time.
I could see evidence of changes
that had taken place In the last
teit years, but I came across ftoo
y reminders of the past vto
man' my stay pleasant. Segregation
!ls trie way of life ln the South,*!
I was told many times. Euphemlst£
tural patterns. To mUliofr»««ci^Ne
groes, it still is a veneer of wrTRe
supremacy, a badge of inferiority, a
loathsome aspect of American life.
There was a certain rule-of-thumb
about Jim Crow that I followed in
virtually every Southern city. I did
j not stay in a white hotel or eat in
' a white restaurant. I found my way
to thc rear seats in public transit
vehicles. To avoid too much Jim
Crow in transportation, I used air
j travel. I used rest room facilities
!ln public places whose entrances
were marked, "Colored." I did not
go to the main public library-
But one of the most Irritable features of Jim Crow ls that the Negro
traveler runs across any number of
inconsistencies. There were many
cities ln the South ln which I had
no trouble getting limousine service
at airports. In most cities in North
Carolina and Virginia and in Little
Rock and Nashville, I had no trouble
hiring a taxi.
I walked into the public library
in Amarillo, Tex., and not an eyebrow was raised. I sat up front in
folic transit vehicles ln Loulnrille
In Norfolk, Va., I ate in thO air-
restaurant and used the feame
rooms as other passenger/ On
other hand, there are many department stores in Louisville, Balti
more and Dallas that refuse to
serve Negro women.
On an Atlantic Coast streamliner
from Philadelphia to Charleston, I
ate in the dining car; I did not have
to wait until thc corner table was
cleared nor sit behind a drawn curtain.
THE sinews of segregation in the
South are steadily being weakened. The Supreme Court has
knocked a hole in almost every form
of interstate travel. Many Negroes
agree with Lillian Smith, the author,
that legal segregation is on its way
out. Many with whom I talked feel
that when it cracks, it will crack
wide open—fast and furiously.
Some segregation in public education exists in Northern and Western
states. But with few exceptions, educational opportunities for all children ln these states are substantially
equal. On the other hand, in the
South, most states spend far less for
Negro pupils and on Negro schools
than they do for the whites. The
foaming controversy over segregated
schools ln the South has had some
Important effects. Even within the
"separate but equal" scheme Negroes
are beginning to get vastly improved
school facilities. But in the main
Negro schools are woefully inferior
to white schools.
On the opening day of the Clarendon school suit hearing, a Charleston newspaper published a picture
of a new Negro elementary school
Forsyth County, N. C. I Vaw a
consolidated high scV.ool
was under way for a
high school; the
Legislature voted $75 million to South, two suffer from political in-
"cquallze Negro and white schools." timidatlon or arc deprived of thc
But there is reason to doubt that theballo:. Many shrewd politicians still
Southern states have the resourcespiay upon race hate to get elected,
to equalize—the National Assoc'a-Many cities, South as well as North,
tion for the Advancement of Colored have Negro councilmen: four years
People contends equalization, if at ago, for the first time, in Winston-
all possible, would take years. Salem. N. C; three years ago in
O. . Richmond; last spring, in Faycttc-
NE of the most important changes ville N c Greensboro, N. C, and
that has taken place in thc South Nasnvjj-C
[since thc end of World War II has
been the opening of doors to Negro TP HE Southern Negro is not alone
students in hitherto aU-white col- x in his battle for his Constitutional
leges and universities. In at leastrights. He is being aided by an ln-
eleven Southern and border statescreasing number of Southern
Negroes have surmounted the bar-whites.
rlers of segregation and discrlmina
tion in professional and graduate
schools.
Excepting, perhaps, Lillian Smith,
doubt that I could have found two
persons among the white women of
What has happened at the Unl-the South who are more conslstent-
verslty of Oklahoma is one of thely devoted to Negro rights than Mrs.
best exhibits of how brittle segrega- Elizabeth Waring, wife of Federal
tion really is, once lt is cracked. In Judge J. Watles Waring, and Mrs.
three short years Negro enrollnS-mtM. L. Tilley. member of President
has Jumped from a retired teacheVrruman's Committee on Civil
separated from his classmates by aslghts. For two with such a com.
railing, to more than 250 students, mon interest, I found their person-
Discrimination began to crumble onallties strikingly different. ^Mrs.
Oct. 13, 1948, when the board of Waring is an advocate of the -flock
regents voted to admit George W. treatment in race relations; mi'd-
McLaurln, the teacher, to the grad- mannered Mrs. Tilley, daughter '•if
uate school. But lt was marred by a minister, has a calm approacal
a decree of strict segregation—then end is a staunch believer in the
came the crushing blow in June.chrlstian influence.
1950. when the Supreme Court I Allies like the Waring* and the
knocked the legal props from underfrilleys are increasing all over the
segregation.
ountry. They are an effective a
I walked about the university'stompanlmcnt to laws banning dis-
campus during the summer sessions, trlmlnation and to court decision!
I had breakfast in the cafeteria, [upholding such laws and broadening
Negro students, I observed, satjthe horizon of equality. Years ago
where they pleased, intermingling jthe N. A. A. C. P. and Urban League
with white students. There was not were virtually alone ln
the faintest sign of friction.
bnany Negro problems. Now there
M, lare state and local commissions or
ANY Negroes live quite well in
the South Doctors, lawyers. busi-stnlments therc Me hundreds of
nessmcndentists.somefarmers.pro- e organl2atl0ns conccrncd
me Problems. And newt,
out the country I noted a general
rise in the Negro economy. Negroes /"INLY the blind would fail to see
have a consumer purchasing power)'-' the signposts of gains along the
of close to $7 billion annually. Negro road of advancement in the
Much of the Negro wealth is con- last decade—in housing. Jobs, poll-
centrated ln the South. A high per- tics, civil rights and education,
ocntage of the 900,000 to 1,000,000 Many Negroes have begun to sense
Negro-owned homes arc ln Southern that integration is a two-way street,
cities and rural areas. More than with opportunities come responsl-
75 per cent of thc 200 Negro lnsur- bilitles. Given the tools of first-
apec companies, burial association* class citizenship, they must strive
for'Negroes, ultramodern ln
and Mratfrriar "benefit societl-
larges\single Negro business—"aire
found the South. One of the
most important segments of Negro
wealth is churches; Negroes are
prolific owners of automobiles: there
are fourteen Negro banks: there ia
a Negro-owned radio station in Atlanta which employs both races.
oes are owners or part owners of 186,000 farms averaging seventy-eight acres. In Desha County,
Ark., I visited the seventy-flve-acre
of John McDanlcls. On
odern property, which lncl
he earned $5,500. in
but several years ago
less than one-fifth of that
to use them wisely. I camo back
reassured and hopeful. Yet I know
that there remain enough problems
to occupy our American talents and
efforts for many years.
As an observer of Southern race
relations put it in Richmond:
"The problem of the South ls to
strike a pace that a region clumsily
ridden with hate, and over which
the past hovers ghost-like, can
stand. The pace may be too slow
or Negroes, too fast for whites, bit
that ls the only way ln which lt ci n
be done democratically."
But one N. A. A. C. P. man In
Richmond insisted: "Equality ls
ours. Wc want it now."